Ex-deputy Found Guilty In Killing Of 2

April 18, 1990|By Lynne Bumpus-hooper Of The Sentinel Staff

ROCKLEDGE — After eight hours of deliberation, a jury Tuesday night found a former Virginia deputy sheriff guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his estranged wife and her lover.

Shepard Clifton will be sentenced on May 21. Prosecutor Glenn Craig said the state will seek two consecutive life terms.

Clifton briefly bowed his head when the verdict was announced shortly after 10 p.m., said defense attorney Alan Landman. Clifton's first wife, Connie, quietly cried.

Landman said he had hoped for an acquittal because of the lengthy deliberations.

Circuit Judge Norton Josephson ordered a presentence investigation and said he would consider a prosecutor's request that Clifton pay restitution for his crimes.

Defense attorney Karen Mitchell said she and Landman have not decided whether to appeal. The victims' families would not comment after the verdict.

Clifton was charged in the Sept. 22, 1988, shooting death of Linda Clifton and Reggie Shonk. Clifton testified that he shot them after following them to the Sea Room Restaurant in Melbourne.

He had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of first-degree murder.

The four men and four women began deliberations at 2:10 p.m. and asked several questions throughout the afternoon and evening.

The Cliftons moved to Melbourne several years ago so Mrs. Clifton could be with her aging parents, court records show.

Clifton, who resigned his job as a deputy sheriff in Virginia, worked in Brevard as a polygraph operator, then as a guard at Harris Corp.

A psychologist had testified that Clifton suffered from personality defects that made him unaware of what he was doing during the shooting.

But two psychiatrists testifying for the state said Clifton did not meet the legal criteria for insanity.